– Stock Market Companion – Current Holdings –

Nr.	Co.	Ticker	Action	Entry Date	Current Gain (Loss)
1	Gentiva Health	GTIV	Holding	11/15/2011	+19%
2	Boeing, Co.	BA	Holding	12/22/2011	+/- 0%

– Markets “At a Glance” –

(Please scroll down to the end of the report to see your favorite benchmarks – Dollar, Oil, Gold … closing prices and daily direction.)

(AS of 15:00 EST on Wednesday, December 7, 2011)

Market	Price (Today’s Close)	Unit of Measure	Today’s Direction
SP-500	1,265.33	Index	UP = +11.33 points
DOW-30	12,294-	Index	UP = +124.35 points
NASDAQ	2,618.64	Index	UP = +19.19 points

 

– Market Trends –

 

Trend	SP-500	DJ-30	NASDAQ
Short Term	Down	Down	Down
Intermediate	Flat	Flat	Flat
Long Term	Lateral	Lateral	Lateral

 

*Summary of terms from Trader Vic II-Principles of Professional Speculation (pg. 140-141)
*_________* Represents a change in trend rating.

 

– Market Perspectives –

 

For your added perspective, we’ve included this chart of the broader market (Successful stock investors develop and start with a minds-eye view of the broader market and keep it clear) –

 

SMC SP-500 ETF Daily Chart (Please click on the chart to view it in a larger size).

 

 

– Today’s Highlights –

 

Although the markets are very quiet today, there these noteworthy developments based on economic data that was released today –

• November data for personal income, disposable personal income, and personal consumption were released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Click here for their detail report.

– In summary, personal income rose 0.1%, while disposable personal income decreased less than 0.1%.  Personal consumption expenditures increased 0.1%.  All of these modest increases and decreases represent billions of dollars.  The positive piece for the U.S. consumption based economy is the +0.1% in expenditures.

 

• November Durable Goods Orders increased +0.3% and the prior month data was revised HIGHER to +1.5%.  Click here for a detailed report from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
  Bloomberg’s Bob Willis has this summary of what the November durable goods orders are telling us – Please click here.  Boeing’s increase in orders was an important component for November.  At SMC, we purchased shares in Boeing this week.

Overall, the U.S. equities market is perking UP a bit.  Four days ago, things looks a bit grim as the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) tagged 120.  That was Tuesday.  The market was at risk of possibly cascading further south on that technical development.  Instead, we have seen a 3 day rally in stocks that has changed the short term technical tone in the markets considerably.  We haven’t seen a “run to the exits” toward the end of the year that we could have seen as fear increased relative to developments in Europe and Europe’s inability to decisively address their debt troubles.  Instead we have seen the markets quiet down and put in rather constructive days this week, after Tuesday.  The SPY is sitting just ABOVE its 200 day moving average and above  its 50 day moving average.  Please notice the upward trend of the blue line on your SMC Daily Chart of the SPY, which represents the 50 day moving average.  A rather bullish development will occur when / if the 50 day moving average crosses ABOVE the 200 day moving average (represented on your SMC chart with the red line).

– Story-Stock Investing –

 

Shares of Apple, Inc. (AAPL $403.33) has crept back UP above the $400 line today.  Volume is of course low due to the overall low volume in the markets prior to Christmas (today’s volume was about a 1/3 of normal daily volume).  We are interested in the shares if they continue to show resilience above $400 and begin to push above $408/$410.

Please recall with Apple, Inc. we expected a parabolic run to occur following the passing of Steve Jobs, in light of the overwhelming sympathy and worldwide agreement of the absolute quality and dominance of their product, the Christmas sales of i-Pads and all things Apple, and in light of the idea that certain major funds had perhaps held back in ownership in response to questions about Steve Jobs’ health and ultimate leadership transition at the company.  Leadership transition at the company has apparently been very smooth and sales at Apple are strong.  We are however cognizant of the fact that Apple disappointed Wall Street investors in October for missing earnings expectations, although the actual earnings numbers are still excellent.  Please notice in the SMC Daily Chart of Apple, Inc. below how the share price “touched” the 200 day moving average on 11/25, and has since moved nicely higher.  It was exactly such a move in June that we took advantage of to capture an ultimate +24% move in Apple shares this year.  When leading stocks tag their 200 day moving average lines, and the story behind the stock is still relevant, institutional investors often add-to or initiate new positions at those moments.

– Benchmarks “At a Glance” –

 

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